An easy day

Thursday was an easy riding day. We left Duane's dad's place relatively early, and I promptly got us lost (although I prefer the term exploring) going to I-90. Evidently, I zigged around a semi when I should have zagged, and missed the exit. About 40 miles down the road, we tried to correct this mistake, and took South Dakota hwy 34 due west. It did add some color to the ride, by allowing us to see some of the numerous small towns that dot the landscape in this state.
We eventually got back to the interstate, and raced our way across to Al's Oasis, a neat restaurant and gift shop about halfway to our destination of Sturgis. The place was packed, but we got in and seated right away. Duane, Richie and myself ordered the salad bar, since it was quick and available, and actually looked pretty good. Josh ordered a cheeseburger and fries. I also ordered this Wisconson cheese soup. I was amazed at how good it was!! I have had cheese sauce over broccoli before, and thought this would be a watered down version. NOT! It was rich and cheesy, and had some spices added to it. In a word, YUM!!
Our salad bars were good, standard midwestern fare -- iceberg lettuce, some toppings, cottage cheese, etc. At the end of the bar was a (I kid you not!) tater-tot casserole. It looked like some sort of medieval gruel, but, adventurer that I am, I had to try it. It was nice and hot, and tasted pleasantly of meat, potatoes, green beans and various spices. Most filling, and definitely good country fare.
We gassed up (Duane's back has been giving him some problems, and so we are helping him put his valiant Gold Wing up on the center stand) and hit the road again. The weather, which has been unusually good for this area of the country at this time of the year, began to turn. I pulled us over under an overpass, and Josh and I put on our rain gear. Duane said he would push on, and push on he did. Geared up, Josh, Richie and I followed.
Rain came and went the entire run into Sturgis, where we finally caught up to Duane. The four of us headed to the Sturgis BMW/Yamaha/Suzuki shop, to pick up the new bike, but the paperwork had to be done, and the salesman said it would take about an hour to complete. He also needed proof of insurance on the new bike, so we decided to go get a room at the Holiday Inn and get out of the rain, which had begun again.
The room is pretty nice, two queen beds, a small but serviceable bathroom, and a restaurant attached. I got on the phone to Geico, and in less than 10 minutes, the insurance was transferred to the new bike (and I saved $80 on my annual rates; the new bike's payment to BMW Bank is about $10 a month less as well, and it is a MUCH better condition machine to boot!). We went to eat at Phil's, a great meal which Richie picked up. Back to the room, where Duane, Rich and I decided to take a walk downtown; Josh was going to the spa.
Sturgis is dead after the rally. Where less than a week ago the downtown thronged with thousands of bikes and bikers, now it is a veritable ghost town. We stopped at a shirt shop which discounted shirts and hats, then wandered about some more. Duane and Rich decided to shop in the morning while I am doing the final paperwork; I did my shopping and got several shirts and hats.
Back to the room, where I did some laundry and we watched the olympics. I must say, Josh has really turned into a good rider this trip; he has put more miles under his butt in the past two weeks than a lot of people do in a year. And he is riding well and responsibly, alert for danger (like the two idiots who almost hit him on the way to Sioux Falls) and ready to react. I hope that he, like Erik, develops as big a love of riding as I have.
Best wishes tonight. Tomorrow we push on across Wyoming, Montana and into Idaho. There is some discussion about skipping Glacier National Park, since various disasters have come up at home, but it is not yet determined.
NOBAMA 2008

Been a long time

Hey folks, sorry so long, no write. Been on the road, and nowhere to upload. Since I last wrote, we have been to the mayhem that was the Sturgis Bike (and RV) Rally, in Sturgis, SD. After the damage to Josh's bike was repaired, we arrived in Sturgis Wednesday afternoon. We camped at the Bulldog Campground. Nice place overall, and very nice people running it. We pitched our tents, then decided to go into town for a bite to eat and to see the madness. And what madness it was! People everywhere, although we were told attendance was down this year. We wandered around town quite a bit, and below are some of the pictures we took.

It was wacky, wild, and wonderful. The shot of the guys above are from the campground as we were getting ready to go into town. We saw some things that were pretty cool, and some that were downright strange.
We went to the Sturgis BMW/Yamaha/Suzuki shop, where I asked about fixing Josh's clutch. We were told it couldn't be done until the following Wednesday or Thursday at the earliest. So I took option number two. The shop had taken in a 1996 K1100LT, and I bought it. I traded the GS in pretty much straight across (they paid most of it off) and my out of pocket was just $420. My payments are actually about $15 less a month, and the bike has been well maintained and only has 40k miles on it. We will be picking it up Thursday, Aug. 14, and using it for the remainder of the ride. It will make a wonderful backup bike for me, if my bike needs to be down, and both my sons can ride it when they wish. Yeehaw!!


We left Sturgis Friday morning and rode down to Sioux Falls, SD, to visit Duane's dad and step-mom, Gary and Lori. On the way we stopped at Wall Drug, in Wall, SD, and had some free ice water (atrocious!!) and did some shopping. What a neat place! They have a restaurant, all sorts of collectible items, and even some historical (and hysterical) displays.



After Wall Drug, we went riding through the Badlands. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Stark, picturesque, astounding, astonishing -- add any more descriptive adjectives you wish. The sedimentary layers, the wildlife were all amazing.







We eventually arrived in Sioux Falls, and got to meet Gary and Lori. What wonderful folks!! Gary is almost 80, and Lori is 74, but you would never guess from seeing and meeting them. If I hadn't know Duane is over 50, I would be these two were just barely 60. They are so lively, wonderful, active and just fantastic. They put us up in their home Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. Gary pulled out his bike and took us around town. What a great city Sioux Falls is! There is a wealth of historical wonder here. The falls, the various old buildings and quarries; too much to mention.
We took Gary and Lori out to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner, and it was fantastic. I have never eaten at one of these restaurants, but I loved it! Great food, great atmosphere, great company. Duane insisted on picking up the $$$ tab, and wouldn't let anyone else chip in. Darn him!!
Sunday was a nice relaxing day, where we did some laundry and some shopping, then Monday morning we headed out.

Our next stop was in Bloomfield IA to visit one of Duane's old friends, Walter and Joan Scott. Walter writes a syndicated outdoors column, and also sells advertising. They also have the coolest underground house. Made of four interconnecting domes, the walls are 3' thick concrete, and covered by 4' - 6' of soil. There are skylights to let in natural light, and the front of the house was relatively conventional. And they are salt of the earth, wonderful people. They hadn't seen Duane in nearly 30 years, yet opened their home to him and his biker friends.

Their home is set on 40 acres, and is so homey and comfortable. It has absorbed the personality of these two fantastic people and their family, and radiates love, comfort and caring. Their home reflects their obvious love for each other and their children and grandchildren.
Walt also took us over to their 500+ acre ranch, where they have a cabin and a 26 acre lake, well stocked with fish. We started to dip some lines, but the light drizzle that had started became quite the downpour. We pulled in our lines and headed for the dry cabin, where we chatted and laughed and wished we had brought some beer to drink.
Heading back to their home, Walt took us to a decent little bar, where we had a bite of lunch, then went back to his place, after touring some Amish stores. Wow, what wonderful furniture and keepsakes they produce. Duane and I are thinking of importing some out to Chico, starting a shop called Almost Amish. Think it will go over?
We arrived back to their home, were we napped for a bit before dinner.
Walt and Joan outdid themselves for dinner -- prime rib, fresh corn on the cob, green salad and the best prepared cottage cheese I've ever had, along with a couple bottles of wonderful red wine.
Ahhhhhhhhhh.......... words cannot express the grandeur of that meal. Taste buds overloaded and the senses swirled and spun with delight.
Damn fine meal, folks.
This morning (Wednesday) we left bright and early, saying fond farewells to these two wonderful folks and promising to keep in touch. We headed out into a light fog, and soon were racing through Iowa back to Sioux Falls and Duane's dad's place. Tomorrow (Thursday) we head back to Sturgis to pick up the K1100LT, then on to Glacier National Park. I promise to write more whenever I get to another hot spot (thank God for Barnes and Noble!)
Best wishes to all, and remember, NOBAMA 2008.

Another fine day on the road- Tuesday, August 5

I wrote Sunday about the catastrophic breakdown of Josh's bike, the 1995 BMW R1100GS. It turned out that there was more wrong with it than I had known, due in large par to my failure to have it properly serviced. We had the bike towed in Sunday to Motorcycle Repair and Rendezvous in Salt Lake City. The owner, Jeff Thrumond, was in the BMWMOA Anonymous Handbook as being able to store and repair BMWs. His shop was closed Sunday and Monday (as are most cycle shops) but he said they would be able to get on the bike Tuesday morning. When one is stranded, one must make the best of things, so we toured Salt Lake City. Huge city, great rail system, pretty darn good food. Here are a few pictures we took.




















Tuesday morning, Jeff's Certified BMW Master Technician Ron Schmidt was as pleasant as could be (especially since, in my mind, I was a bit of a butthead), and told me what needed to be repaired. They were able to reschedule a couple appointments (thankyouthankyouthankyou) and able to repair the rear bearing, replace the brake pads, tighten the front left rotor, and synchronize the injectors, as well as some other maintenance. He was very kind about pointing out that my attention to maintenance had been lacking. The only thing they were unable to repair was the clutch and rear seal, because it is a major job and would have been grossly unfair to push aside regular customers for two days. They assured me (and I had my good friend Mike confirm) that, with proper caution and care, the clutch will finish out the trip.
I said very fond farewells and departed the shop nearly $800 lighter (a very fair price and worth every penny and then some!) on my way to catch Duane and Rich. They had left earlier in the day; I had told them we would be on the road and catch up with them, and not to wait. They called with updates on my cel phone and left voice messages.
Utah and Wyoming are starkly beautiful states; you must enjoy desert landscape to truly appreciate the scenic wonder. Personally, I like forests and oceans and beaches, etc., so I would really never willingly live in such a place. But they are fun to travel through, even when traveling on the interstate to make time.
Josh and I left Salt Lake City around 4:40 pm, and I set the cruise control at 70 mph. This kept Josh's bike running at less than 4k rpms, which was the point at which he noticed clutch slippage. We pushed on until we hit Little America, WY, where we stopped for a drink and to refuel the bikes. Duane and Richie called then, and said they had made Rawlins, WY., which had been our target. A nice ride of about 350 miles from SLC, and leaving us 360 miles from out goal, the RV/Motorcycle rally known as Sturgis. All things considered, things are going well; even with the bike failure, nobody has been hurt, the repair was done quickly and with a minimum of pain, and we got to see an interesting city.
Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow. Da Guyz!

Travelling with Joe

Enough of the politics for a while. Myself, my good friends Duane and Richie, and my son Josh, have embarked on a cross country trip to the big motorcycle (and rv) rally in Sturgis, SD. We left the Oroville, Ca. area relatively uneventfully. We rode up Hwy 162, coming into Quincy, and then up Hwy 70 to Hwy 395. The ride was beautiful, and we ended up in Reno at a pretty decent Super 8 motel. We had a great dinner buffet at the Silver Legacy, and I did a little gambling, losing only $20. Not bad for two hours of fun!
A good night's sleep, and a decent dinner at the Bonanza, and we were on our way. We rode I-80 through to Salt Lake City. Let me tell you, it is the most BORING road. Nothing but desert, with occasional oases of casinos and small towns. I cannot understand why any human would live in the desert; no big jobs except gambling, some recreation if you like the desert. No thanks.
Our Microtel suite in SLC was really good, and we started the day out in high spirits. That ended about an hour and a half into the days ride. We were supposed to do a short 425 mile ride to Caspar, WY, and from there a short 225 mile run Monday to our goal, Sturgis.
Fate intervened. Josh pulled his R1100GS over about 65 into the day, as he felt a bad vibration from rear. We all pulled over and looked, and it seemed to me he had lost a brake shoe. I tried to remove the Brembo unit, but didn't have the proper allen wrench. Richie took his rocket Hyabusa, and Josh followed on Duane's classic 1977 Gold Wing into Evanston, WY, to find me the proper wrench. They returned in about an hour, and I figured we would remove the brake unit and zip tie it up, and Josh could return to the road, and we could limp into Cheyenne or Caspar, and get some new pads.
However, the rubbing pad had heated up the rotor, which in turn heated up the rear drive bearing, which in turn caused the bearing to leak all the rear drive fluid.
NOW we were up a creek. After speaking to my wonderful friend and mechanic Mike Moakley, I ended up calling the BMWMOA Platinum card, and arranged for a tow. A call to my wife Jeri netted me six numbers from the BMWMOA Anonymous Book, where people offer their help in one way or another.
Five of the numbers were disconnected. The sixth was gold. I reached Jeff, who owns a motorcycle shop specializing in BMWs. We arranged to have the bike towed there, where Jeff said his mechanics would get on the repairs Tuesday. I asked if he could also replace the clutch, which was starting to slip a bit, and he said he could. Hopefully, we will be on our way Wednesday morning.
Monday will find us exploring the metropolis of Salt Lake City. We plan to ride the UTA Trax rail system all day. Should be a gas.
All for now. Remember -- if someone claims to be in the throes of Obamagasm, ask them why. Ask what he has accomplished. Ask what he claims to stand for. Ask if they think a junior senator, in his first term, has what it takes to be our leader. And ask them to answer honestly what they would say if the Republicans fielded such a candidate.

More Obama bull$hit

First off, sorry for the long delay between posts. Between fire evacuations and my regular job requirements, the blog has been relegated to the rear burner.
That said, let me say, for the record, that Democratic (nee Socialist) Presidential Candidate Barack Hussein Obama has once again announced his intention to regulate business, by stopping speculation in oil trading.

With the cost of gas a top issue in the presidential campaign, Barack Obama on Sunday will announce a plan to crack down on oil speculation by tightening regulations on energy traders. The announcement is further evidence that an Obama administration would take an activist, populist approach to regulating business.
Obama wants to close a loophole in federal law that exempts some energy traders from regulations that govern other exchange-traded commodities. Democrats call this “the Enron loophole” because it benefited the Houston energy-speculation firm that collapsed in an accounting scandal.
In response, John McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said: “The truth is Barack Obama is following John McCain’s lead to close a Wall Street loophole that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. John McCain has supported bipartisan efforts to close this loophole and will work to address abuses in oil speculation.
Not just Barack Hussein Obama, but also John McCain, want to once again insert government intrusion into private business. This intrusion will do nothing but screw the entire country.
Here is some intrusion that MOST Americans want -- OPEN THE ALASKAN OIL RESERVES!!! ALLOW DRILLING AND REFINING OF SHALE OIL IN THE DAKOTAS!!
Barack Hussein Obama dismisses this idea, claiming that it won't provide returns for up to a decade. However, people who actually WORK in the field say it will provide returns in less than a year. And the Alaskan pipeline is ALREADY IN PLACE. We just have to relax INTRUSIVE GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS PUT IN PLACE BY BENDING OVER TO LIBERAL SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS and build new refineries.
Do any of you realize that NO new refineries have been built for nearly three decades, even though technology has increased to the point that their environmental footprint will be minimal? And why haven't they been built? LIBERAL special interest groups, who would be quite happy to see the United States achieve the rank of third world country.
These are the same people who piss and moan about importing refined gasoline from other countries. How can they intellectually justify their positions? They can't. There is no intelligent way to do so. They want us to be energy independent, yet don't want to allow the tools to do so.
Mike Allen, from Yahoo! news, wrote a story, from which I have pulled the following excerpts, and made remarks:

Obama said in a statement: “My plan fully closes the Enron Loophole and restores common-sense regulation as part of my broader plan to ease the burden for struggling families today while investing in a better future.”

Here is some common sense, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama: QUIT MEDDLING! You have never held any position in any business; you have lived off the public largesse as a public employee, and only hold theoretical knowledge of the private sector. Let the American people invest in a better future by opening up ANWAR and allowing off-shore drilling. Stop bending over and grabbing your ankles to LEFT-WING SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS and restricting American business, while supporting FOREIGN interests.

The campaign calls the loophole “one example of the special interest politics that put the interests of Big Oil and speculators ahead of the interests of working people.”

Obama said: “For the past years, our energy policy in this country has been simply to let the special interests have their way — opening up loopholes for the oil companies and speculators so that they could reap record profits while the rest of us pay $4 a gallon.”

Here are excerpts from the text of the four-part “Obama Plan to Crack Down on Excessive Energy Speculation,” as provided by the campaign:

1) Fully Close the “Enron Loophole”: One of the reasons our energy market is particularly vulnerable to excessive speculation is the so-called “Enron Loophole” … [which means] Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is unable to fully oversee the oil futures market and investigate cases where excessive speculation may be driving up oil prices. This regulatory gap is dangerous because: 1) the absence of government oversight has the potential to facilitate abusive trading or price manipulation. And 2) the failure of a large derivatives dealer could trigger disruptions of supplies and prices in energy markets. As President, Barack (Hussein) Obama will go beyond the changes included in the recently-passed Farm Bill and fully close the Enron loophole by requiring that U.S. energy futures trade on regulated exchanges. He will call for new, disaggregated data on index fund and other passive investments to increase transparency and oversight of the growing number of institutional investors participating in commodities futures markets. And he will support legislation directing the CFTC to investigate whether additional regulation is necessary to eliminate excessive speculation in U.S. commodities markets, including higher margin requirements and position limits for institutional investors.

2) Ensure That U.S. Energy Futures Cannot be Traded on Unregulated Offshore Exchanges: CFTC oversight of oil market speculation is also limited by rules that allow energy traders to engage in unregulated transactions through foreign subsidiaries of U.S. exchanges. Currently, about 30 percent of U.S. oil futures trades fly below the regulatory radar because they are transacted on a U.S. exchange that works through a subsidiary in London. Similar arrangements are being pursued by U.S. exchanges in partnership with Dubai as well. Barack Obama would limit the price impacts of excessive speculation by preventing traders of U.S. crude oil from routing their transactions through off-shore markets in order to evade speculation limits and also impose reporting requirements.

3) Work with Other Countries to Coordinate Regulation of Oil Futures Markets.

Why? Why should the United States of America allow other countries to dictate our regulations? Isn't this just another one-world government tactic, designed to destroy the economic stability of this country?

4) Call on the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to Vigorously Investigate Market Manipulation in Oil Futures.

It appears that Mr. Barack Hussein Obama wants very much to regulate as much of our lives and businesses as he can. How typical of a liberal politician. Regulate, regulate regulate, because American's are incapable of thinking for themselves. Regulate business until it becomes a tool of the state.

We have seen how well socialism works. Lines for sub-par medical care, unless you are connected. Being told where you can live, and what you can buy, and what you can do. Socialism suppresses intellectual advancement, and the human drive for advancement.

Look at Mr. Barack Hussein Obama's voting record before you vote for him. Exercise YOUR intelligence before casting your vote.

Not that John McCain is much better; look at the McCain-Feingold fiasco. This is one stupid election, with neither candidate being that much different from the other. The only major difference is that Barack Hussein Obama is up-front about regulating as much of our lives as possible; he has stated he will raise taxes on corporations (who will not pay them out of their profits, but will pass the cost to you, raising further what you have to pay for products and services!), and will raise taxes on the highest wage earners (excepting politicians, actors and athletes, thanks to loopholes enacted by William Jefferson Clinton). Will these people pay more out of their pockets? NO!!! The highest wage-earners OWN THE CORPORATIONS AND BUSINESS WHO BOTH EMPLOY YOU AND PROVIDE THE THINGS YOU NEED TO BUY!!! They will pass on their increased taxes TO THE COMMON MAN!!

People, this is economics 101. It is common sense. But the American people have become herd animals, following the loudest voices braying in the crowd. We have been told by liberal voices not to express any but their opinions, not to stand up for ourselves (unless it is politically correct to do so, as in gay "marriage") and accept what the government wants us to do.

It is time to stand up and say, HELLO!! MCFLY!! LISTEN TO THE REGULAR FOLK, AND STOP RAISING OUR TAXES, DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY, AND ALLOW COMMON SENSE TO REIGN!

Our friends, the Muslims

Folks, I tried to download some pictures showing our friends, the Muslims, but they didn't come across. However, go to the following Snopes.com link and I think you will see something interesting.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/muslimprotest.asp
These are just more pictures the mainstream media is either too cowardly to show, or have been paid not to show. Either way, it is important for Americans to know what they are up against. The American left thinks that they can deal with these "people" the same way the deal with Europeans who disagree with us. Not so. Show me any other modern group of people who raise their children to commit suicide for their religion; show me any other modern group of people who demand death for insults to their religion. Could you imagine the outrage among the "political elite" of this country if Catholics, or Protestants, or any Christian group, inside or outside the US, mounted the same protests as our loving Muslim brethren? Any Christian would immediately be denounced as a fanatic, and censured or even jailed. And yet, Muslims are given a pass, and we are told we MUST respect their religious beliefs. Hmmmmm...

Let's face it; this is not one world, and it never will be. And while we must respect other people's beliefs, we don't have to agree with them. And we MUST learn to recognize a threat when we see it. And let's not be afraid to say it -- Islam is not a religion of peace, it is a religion that, if America's political elite treated it as they treat Christians, would be considered discriminatory and hate-filled. But the "elite" (and who crowned them "elite?!") refuse to look at Islam through the same magnifying glass they look at Christianity. Intelligent people must wonder why?
Of course, our politically correct left wing nuts will say, "Look how evil Christianity was during the Crusades? Look how many people died in the name of God?"
Good point -- if this were the 1500s. Only the intellectually vacant will attempt to judge the past by the "enlightened" values of today. They teach the Columbus was a murderer and terrorist for coming to America; they claim that our ancestors were evil for taking this country from Native Americans. They say that treating Africans as property was wrong.
By the standards and intellectual advancement we now enjoy, that is true. But the intelligent people among us look at the standards and beliefs of the time period and realize that people were acting in a correct manner for that time.
Sadly, many of the people teaching these beliefs are teaching them to our children -- in public school. They do not teach our children how to contrast the beliefs of that time with those of today; rather, they tell our children how evil our ancestors were, which makes us evil.
Even sadder, those same people don't look at current Islam and apply the same standards.
God, or Allah, or Vishnu, or whoever, save us all.

Well, it is Thursday night, and I think I will just ramble about a few things that stuck in my craw today. I gave enough information about Barack Hussein Obama that intelligent people will be able to check up more on his views and stances, and see how much of a socialist liberal he really is. God help us all if he is elected; he may have a fillibuster-proof Congress, that will let him rubber-stamp his way to bankrupting this country and bringing in the liberal dream of a 100% tax rate against the "evil rich."
One of the things I want to ramble about is the 39-cent per gallon gas hike I witnessed across the street from my office. The store owner was kind enough to let me know ahead of time, so I was able to fill up my bike. This brought the cost of a gallon of regular to $4.28/gallon. Now, we all hear about the "big oil" companies making billions of dollars in profits, of course reported in an unbiased and fair manner by "big media." I heard on the Tom Sullivan show today that the oil companies are making approximately 8-cents a gallon profit.
This is after paying for labor, purchasing and refining the oil and, of course, paying taxes. We all hear about the "windfall" profits, and of course the Democrats want to tax ANYONE making profits. However, what we don't hear, and what was reported by Tom Sullivan earlier this week, is that, following accepted accounting practices, Exxon paid their fair share of taxes on $9 billion of the $10 billion profits they made. Oh, wait, we can't report THAT, can we? That might undermine this war the liberals and the media are trying to create; the war between the "rich" and the rest of us.
Hasn't anyone noticed that, for the last several decades, the media and the left have been trying to use class envy to create hatred between people who have worked their asses off to succeed and the people who have done enough to get by? I mean, how does it negatively impact YOU if I earn $2 million a year and you earn $20k a year? Are you worse off because someone else earns more than you? Is it possible they worked harder, or have more education, or took risks that you were too afraid to take? Are they bad people if, just maybe, they got lucky?
And why do the left-wing liberals insist that people who have busted their butts, and have been taxed at an exhorbitant rate, "give back" to the people they already involuntarily give to? How many of these well-meaning lefties "give back" the money they earn in their jobs? And what jobs they are -- acting, playing sports, etc.
I guess the "evil rich" they speak about are CEOs, CFOs, high-level managers -- the people who busted their butts and took risks. THESE are the people who must "give back" in order to be considered "good rich."
Here is a another rambling coming to mind. Why must politicians (mostly on the conservative side) always apologize for stating their opinions? Wasn't this country founded upon the great freedoms of speech and religion? Suddenly, nobody can speak their mind, for fear that they might be considered "politically incorrect" and labeled as a "hate-monger," spewing "hate speech." Good Lord, dear God, Jesus help us all. What bunch of pinheads determine what is and is not "politically correct," and who among us gave them this power to censure free speech? I would love for SOMEONE to tell me where the "politically correct speech monitors" are and how I can get hold of them; I have a few words to say that would no doubt get me labeled as a hater.
As if I care.
I heard John McCain had to distance himself from some televangelist who spoke his mind. So what? It hasn't hurt Barack Hussein Obama when his preacher spoke words of hatred. And why should it? EVERYONE, public or private, is allowed to speak their mind under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. A constitution, mind you, that Barack Hussein Obama, Hillary Diane Rodham-Clinton, and John McCain, are sword to uphold and defend. I challenge ANY of them to defend Rush Limbaugh's right to speak, or Michael Savage, or Ray Taliaferro, or Sean Hannity.
Here is another rant, which kind of ties into my first one. I have noticed that the people bitching the loudest about America's dependence on foreign oil are the first to deny oil companies the opportunity to drill and pump oil here. Now, let me see if I can understand this, using the smallest words possible. Liberal says, no blood for oil, get off foreign oil. But wait, no drill for oil in America, no drill for oil in Alaska, no nuclear power (ooops, two multi-syllable words!).
Soooooo, they want us to use alternative energy. Lets see, nuclear power works really well; look at Europe, and at the US Navy's nuclear fleet. And Montana, most of Nevada, Utah and Wyoming are tectonically stable, and would be perfect for several nuclear power plants. And the waste? Lets space it. We have the technology to put nuclear waste, whatever cannot be recycled, into a trajectory that will dump it onto Venus, or into the sun. Oh, wait, the same environmentalist nutcases on the left who want us off oil also are against nuclear. Hmmmm, what else?
Solar energy? Sure, we can all live in the stone age with current applications of solar power; or we can use existing technology to put several hundred solar-collector satellites into geosynchronous orbits, and use microwaves to beam that power to collector plants to disperse it through the grid. Oh, wait, one of the microwave beams might stray and a tree might burn, or a spotted owl may die. We wouldn't want that.
I think that the environmentalist kooks who seem to be the darlings of the media would be happy if we drop back to an agrarian, pre-industrial society. Oh, wait, millions of innocent people on the African and Asian continents might die. After all, we can't ask them not to breed children they cannot possibly feed. It is up to all of us in the United States to feed them. But wait, without using modern technology, we can't feed all of us in the US, let alone around the third-world. What to do, what to do?
You can see why I say it is easy to be a liberal. You just have to state a problem and say you care about it. You can then knock down any logical solutions or arguments about praciticality by labeling people as "hate-mongers" or "racists."
What this country needs are a core of politicians who will stand up to the liberal nutbag environmentalists and their sycophants and say, "Screw you! We represent the will of the American majority, and the majority want American oil and American nuclear power. The fringe, whiney, loud-mouthed, pissy minority can go to Hell; if you don't like it here, move south. We are sure Mexico will welcome you with open arms."
(Here is a link you can read about Mexico's immigration policy -- http://www.vdare.com/awall/070516_memo.htm -- and see how "progressive" it really is)
We need a core of politicians who will stand up and represent the MAJORITY of Americans and our wants and needs, and not bend over and grab their ankles when accused of being "uncaring" or "racist" or "sexist" or any other kind of "-ist."
We won't see that. Not in our lifetimes. Sadly, I think what we will see is much more frightening and is really just around the corner. I think the truck driving community is at its end, with diesel jumping up to over $5 a gallon, when it is a byproduct of creating gasoline. I think that more than 70-percent of them are going to say "Screw You!" and pull over. You see, you can bring product in by ship, or plane, or train; you can't move it to the stores or refineries or factories without America's truckers.
And who will feel it first? The biggest cities -- New York, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle -- places that you can't grow your own food, and are TOTALLY dependent upon deliveries for their lives. Coincidentally, where the liberals congregate and berate those of us who live a rural lifestyle. We will see those cities implode, as supplies dwindle in mere hours. Many Americans live a "me" lifestyle; when they hear that deliveries will stop, the will flood to stores and gas stations to make sure that THEY have their supplies. Riots will erupt, and inside of hours, those cities will tear themselves apart. The rural communities will have a better time of it, as we can grow our own food, and have things to trade for food.
If truckers stop for just TWO WEEKS, this country will be on its knees. The military will feed themselves, as they should, and they will still be able to defend us. It will take YEARS to resupply the stores and gas stations, and it will totally destroy OPEC. Americans will see the folly of depending upon other countries for our energy needs, and will ignore the environmental nuts. We will stumble, and if Barack Hussein Obama, or Hillary Diane Rodham-Clinton are in power, we will land hard. Neither have the experience or the leadership to help us. Both are junior senators, and neither have any military or leadership experience to fall back on.
It is coming; we must prepare. Put aside fuel, put aside food, and make sure your weapons are in good shape.
Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.